Will the "Ni**as in Paris" Video Actually Give Me a Seizure?

Will I have a seizure if I watch the "Ni**as in Paris" video? Possibly. The new clip from Jay-Z and Kanye West starts with a warning: "This video has been identified by Epilepsy Action to potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy." Which seems entirely legitimate after watching the video, and given Kanye West's history.

What's Kanye West's history? Last year, the same warning was added to West's "All of the Lights" video, following serious complaints from Epilepsy Action, a UK organization, which said that it had actually "started to receive calls from people who have had a seizure after watching the video." The video was pulled from YouTube, then later updated with the disclaimer. It appears something similar happened here, or else West just has a really strange sense of humor. (We contacted Epilepsy Action but haven't heard back.)

How can a music video give you a seizure? Photosensitive epilepsy can be triggered by repeated flashing light, kind of like that seen in the trippy credit sequence of "All of the Lights" or the stage lights of "Ni**as in Paris." (For everyone else, it's merely dizzying.) Epileptic Action asked Britain's own Cambridge Research Systems to run the former video through a fancy flash-pattern analyzer, which confirmed that, yes, it contains "flashes at a rate at which seizures can be triggered." To be fair to West, though, this isn't the only time something bright and shiny has been charged with medical danger. An intense birthing scene in the last Twilight movie apparently left some guy on the floor. And we're pretty sure the landing scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind didn't do much better.

What's the deal with Kanye West and epilepsy? Good question. As some people have pointed out, "All of the Lights" was a pretty obvious homage to a little French movie called Enter the Void. (No word on whether that also causes seizures.) "Ni**as in Paris," meanwhile, is shot inside a dark concert venue with flashing bulbs and fused split-screen, more or less accurately recreating the experience of being very drunk at a Jay-Z/Kanye West concert. As opposed to Kanye West's "We Were Once a Fairy Tale," which makes you feel like a drunk Kanye West. In other words, when watching a Kanye West video, never expect to be bored.

UPDATE: We heard back from Epilepsy Action, which says in a press release that it "was not consulted about this video, although we now know that watching it does pose a risk to people with photosensitive epilepsy." While happy with the warning, they also wish Kanye West would stop making videos with "potentially dangerous imagery."

This content is imported from Vevo. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Paul SchrodtPaul Schrodt is a freelance writer and editor who also contributes to Esquire, GQ, Money, The Wall Street Journal, and more.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Esquire participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.